Glossary of Writing Terms - Grantham University

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Glossary of Writing Terms

A

Abstract Academic paper

Active sentence Active voice Adjective Adverb Agenda Agreement Analysis Anecdote Annotate APA style

Appeal Appendix Application paper

In APA, abstracts are found directly following the title page and are typically a 150-200 word summary of the following article or paper.

Academic papers are, for the most part, designed with two distinct purposes in mind: to analyze, interpret, explain, or argue about a topic; and to demonstrate an intellectual understanding of the course or field for which it is being written.

Active sentences are sentences in which the subject performs the action.

Active voice entails the use of a subject-verb construction (active sentences) throughout the majority of a piece of writing.

Adjectives provide information about, clarify, or describe nouns, pronouns, or other adjectives.

Adverbs do very much the same thing as adjectives except they clarify and describe verbs.

The underlying motivation for the creation of a text.

Consistency in time, point of view, plurality or not, and so on within a text.

The process of looking closely and critically at a text to determine what it means, how it presents its ideas, its effectiveness, and so on.

Brief stories or slices-of-life that help to make a point

To underline or highlight important passages in a text and to make notes in the margins.

The official writing and documentation style of the American Psychological Association (APA), which is Grantham University's official style of documentation and citation for all courses.

An appeal is an argument that connects to the readers' needs, such as achievement, belonging, or survival.

The Appendix at the end of a text, report, or dissertation, contains appendices that provided additional information pertaining to the text.

An application paper focuses on experiences and qualities that suit the writer for a specific position or program.

Argument Argumentative paper Artifact Attributive phrase Attributive tag Audience

B

Basic listing Biased words Bibliography Block quotation

Blogs Body language

Body paragraph

Boolean operators

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Argument involves a course in logical thinking intended to convince the reader to accept an idea or to take action. An argumentative paper presents an argument about a timely, debatable topic.

An artifact is an object made or modified by a human culture.

A group of words that indicates the source of an idea or quotation. See attributive phrase.

This term literally refers to the listeners or hearers of a speech, including the intended listeners/hearers, but is commonly used to refer to the intended reader or readers for a piece of writing.

A brief, somewhat informal itemizing of main points.

Words that unfairly or disrespectfully depict individuals of groups.

Lists of works that cover a particular subject. A long quotation of 40 words or more. Block quotations are formatted in a way that sets them apart from the rest of the text by tabbing- in each line, omitting the quotation marks, and leaving the citation outside of the end punctuation. Online journals (shorthand for "Web log").

Body language is a communication style that involves the use of physical cues to indicate a person's level of comfort, interest, engagement, etc. A paragraph comprising, in part, the central portion or body of a paper or other, similarly structured, document, which is focused on articulating, developing, and supporting a single point of the larger argument presented by the author with his/her thesis statement in the introductory paragraph(s). Words or symbols used when searching research databases that describe the relationship between various words or phrases in a search.

C

Call numbers Camera-eye Cause-effect paper Chronology Citation Classical argument Clich?s Climax Closed question Clustering Coherence Collections Colloquialism

Comma splice

Concessions

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A set of numbers used by the Library of Congress that specify the subject area, topic, and authorship or title of a book, magazine, or other text.

An approach to writing that involves sharing details as though a camera lens moving across a subject.

A paper that examines the conditions or actions that lead to a specific outcome.

Order of events as they have occurred in time. We often refer to descriptions of events in chronological order.

An agreed-upon notation that gives credit to those who informed the ideas within a text that did not originate with the text's author.

Until recently, the most popular of argumentative styles. This style, invented in ancient Greece, involves two individuals arguing opposite sides of an argument in order to convince an unbiased third person.

Overused words or phrases that, through time, have lost their meaning. For example, "It's raining cats and dogs!" or, "It wasn't just easy; it was a piece of cake!"

The most exciting moment in a narrative; the moment at which the person succeeds, fails, or learns something.

Questions that can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no".

A form of brainstorming by freely recording words and phrases around a nucleus word.

Strong connection between sentences in a paragraph; achieved through transition and repetition.

The materials housed within a library.

Colloquialisms are common words which work well in common conversation, but are not suitable for academic writing. Words like, "cool," "sweet," "y'all," and "gonna" are colloquialisms. Often, these can also be whole phrases like, "I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

A common error in writing made when the writer combines two independent clauses together with a comma (and nothing else). (i.e. "There was no way I was going alone, she said she wouldn't dream of letting me out of her sight.").

Openly recognizing the validity of opposing viewpoints.

Conflict Conjunction Connotation Context Contraction

Controversies Conventions Copyright

D

Database Debatable topic Deductive reasoning Defensible position Denotation Dialogue Directed writing

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The obstacles or adversaries confronted by people in narratives; person vs. person, person vs. society, person vs. self, person vs. technology, person vs. nature, etc.

A word that joins two ideas within a sentence. For example: "I love pizza, and I love tacos." The conjunction is "and." Another example would be: "I would love some pizza, but it gives me heartburn.

The suggestion made by a word or group of words--the implied meaning.

The set of circumstances in which a statement is made; the text and other factors that surround a specific statement and are crucial to understanding it.

The shortening or abbreviation of a phrase of two or more words into a single word for the sake of efficiency and/or for use within informal writing or speech (e.g. do not may be contracted as don't). While contractions are often found in informal modes of writing and speech, they are not appropriate in academic writing.

Issues about which there are two or more strongly opposing views or highly debatable issues.

The standard rules for spelling, punctuation, mechanics, usage, grammar, and formatting.

Legal ownership of the text of a document, entitling the owner of the copyright to determine if/when/how that text may be reproduced.

An electronic repository of information organized by subject and/or academic or professional discipline (e.g. scholarly articles).

A topic that is not mere fact, but can be argued from at least two different angles.

Reasoning that works from general principles or ideas; through specific applications, support, and/or examples; to a conclusion.

A claim that is debatable, but can be strongly supported by evidence; a claim that is neither fact nor an unsupportable opinion.

A word's literal meaning.

The words spoken by people. In writing, dialogue is set apart by quotation marks.

An exploration tactic using one of a set of thinking moves: describe, compare, associate, analyze, argue, or apply.

Direct quotation Documentation DOI

Drafting

E

EBSCO

Editing Ellipsis Paper

Ethos Etymology Extended definition Extreme claims

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A word-for-word statement or passage from an original source. In writing, quotations are typically set apart by quotation marks and always cited. See also block quotation)

Crediting sources of information, through in-text citations or references and a list of works cited or references, generally on a page or pages located at the end of a paper.

A Digital Object Identifier is an alphanumeric code that online content providers (e.g. databases, scholarly journals) provide as an alternative to the actual URL of a document so that researchers may cite those online documents using a static identifier within their bibliographic citations.

Writing sentences and paragraphs to create an initial draft of a paper-- should contain a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The online research database provided to students and faculty by Grantham University for the purposes of conducting academic research necessary for courses of study offered by the University. This database provides bibliographic citations and, in many cases, full texts of articles originally published in peer-reviewed, scholarly journals.

Refining a draft in terms of word choice and sentence style and checking it for conventions.

A set of three periods with one space preceding and following each period; a punctuation mark that indicates a deletion of material.

The process of trying or testing (from the French verb, paperer, translated as to try); a written document that explores a particular question or issue, typically offering a thesis and supporting argument in response.

An argumentative strategy designed to build, and then use the audience's sense of trust and respect for the arguer to promote an idea.

The origin of a word.

A type of analytical writing that explores the meaning of a specific term, providing denotation, connotation, and a variety of perspectives on the term.

Claims that include words (all, best, never, worst) that are overly positive or negative.

F

Facts Fair use Fake writing voice Feasible Field research First draft First person

Flush

Focus Focused free-writing Forecasting

Foreshadowing Form Formal English Formatting

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Statements that can be checked for accuracy through empirical evidence.

Rules governing the use of small (not large) portions of a text for noncommercial purposes.

A writing voice that sounds overly academic, bland, or unnatural.

Do-able; reasonable--given time, budgets, resources, and consequences.

An on-site scientific study conducted for the purpose of gathering raw data.

The initial writing in which the writing connects facts and details about the topic.

A confessional or conversational style of writing that connects the thoughts of the writer directly to the reader through the use of the pronouns: I, me, we, us and so on. Good for some papers, but in general, is not considered appropriate for academic writing. First person is frowned upon when writing APA Style research papers.

The justification of the text in a paper (meaning to which margin of the page the text lines up). In APA, with the exception of page numbers, the title of the paper, the title-block, certain level titles, block quotations, the abstract title, and the References page title-- all text should be justified flush left. Page numbers are placed flush right, and all of the other exceptions are center justified.

The specific part of the subject to be covered in a piece of writing.

A form of free writing that is approached from a specific angle or as a quick draft of a paper.

Also known as foreshadowing, this is a writing technique that shows a preview of what the reader can expect throughout the rest of a document. In academic writing, forecasting usually happens within the thesis statement or within the transitions between paragraphs or sections.

(see forecasting)

The type of writing; for example, report, letter, proposal, editorial, paper, story, or poem.

Carefully worded language suitable for most academic writing.

The visual organization of a document, including, but not limited to, margins, font, font size, font color, textual justification, line spacing, etc.

Formulaic writing Forwarding

Fragment Free-writing

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Writing that stiffly adheres to a prescribed format and, because of that, fails to make an impact.

The process of interacting with an idea through writing. When we are forwarding, we are changing the idea, extending it, reshaping it, and filtering it through our consciousness in order to send the new, altered version out into the world.

An incomplete sentence (missing a verb or a subject).

A form of non-stop writing used during the early stages of the writing process to collect thoughts and ideas.

G

Glossary Graphic organizer

H

Hanging indent Hyperlinks

I

Implications Inductive reasoning In-text citation

A list of important words and terms. A chart or diagram used to arrange the main points and essential details of a paper.

A hanging indent is the indention of the first line of a paragraph . Using the tab-key is generally the easiest way to create a hanging indent, but one can always use 12 spaces on the space bar. Specially formatted text that enables readers to click to another spot on the Internet.

Natural results, direct and indirect, whether good or bad. Reasoning that works from particular details toward general conclusions. Like citation, an in-text citation is an agreed-upon notation that gives credit to those who informed the ideas within a text that did not originate with the text's author. In APA in-text citations are required in

Informal English Intensity

J

Jargon Journal Journals

L

Level of language Line diagram Logical fallacies Logos Loose sentence

M

Main claim Medium Metaphor

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brief form within the body of the text, and are fully-cited on the References page(s). Language characterized by a more relaxed, personal tone suitable for personal writing. A writer's level of concern for the topic as indicated by the writing voice.

Technical terms not familiar to the general reader. A notebook used regularly for personal writing. Publications providing specialized scholarly information for a narrowly focused audient. Journals may be published monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc. Most journals are now also digitized. Many can be found in Grantham library's free database. Some online journals require a subscription fee to access.

The level of language a writer uses--informal, semi-formal, or formal. A graphic organizer used to arrange ideas for expository writing. Logical fallacies are false arguments based on fuzzy, dishonest, or incomplete thinking. An argumentative strategy designed to appeal to an audience's logic. A sentence that provides a base clause near the beginning, followed by explanatory phrases and clauses.

A debatable statement, the thesis or key point in an argument. The way that writing is delivered; for example, in a printed publication or online. A comparison that equates two dissimilar things without using like or as; saying that one thing is another.

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